When a stray puppy wandered onto an army base in Iraq, he quickly won the hearts of every single soldier at the camp. They named the mutt Ollie, and he formed a special bond with one soldier in particular. Former Army Specialist Ken Wyrsch took Ollie under his wing and raised him. The two best friends spent every moment they could while Wyrsch was serving duty.

“He was there when we left on our missions, he was there when we got back,” he told CBS SF.

We’ve seen it happen before — when a soldier must leave behind his canine companion and head back to the states, heartbroken. That’s exactly what happened when Wyrsch heard the camp in Iraq was shutting down and the unit was disbanding. He knew he’d have to leave Ollie behind, but he feared the pup was too sweet and mild-tempered to survive the harsh environment and potential abuse.

Instead of trying to put Ollie out of his mind and move on in life without him, Wyrsch contacted SPCA International in the hopes they could help raise the funds needed to rescue Ollie and bring him all the way back to California.

One month later, Wyrsch went to the cargo depot SFO to make a very special pickup. Watch what happened next in the video below.